Don't Want You To See
by EightofSwords
Summary: “Rei was in a flirtatious mood. That’s why I left the arcade and came to find you. Because Rei was bothering me. Not because I was worried about you.”
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**: Again, I make Rei out to be the villain. I really shouldn't – I really don't think Rei is that bad. I even love to read fics about her and Jadeite. Someday I'll write a more Rei-friendly-fic, I promise.

This is a pretty short story, just a little vignette that's been in bits and piece on my hard drive for a while. I decided to sew it together, because I need a romance fix – it's HARD making Serena and Darien's relationship move so slowly in STC.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Sailor Moon. It's a good thing, too, because if I did, all the Rei-lovers would lynch me or something.

* * *

**Don't Want You To See**

* * *

"I wonder why Sailor V wears a mask."

Rei snorted at Serena's stupidity. "Cause she doesn't want the Enemy to recognize her, duh."

"Rei…" Ami's voice was strained, and weary. How many times a day did she have to scold Rei for being mean to Serena? Why couldn't the girl just take some Midol and get over herself?

"No, it's okay, Ami," Serena interrupted before Ami could say anymore. "Rei's right – I just – wasn't thinking. Sorry."

_Bleep. Bleep. Blip._

_Drip._

No one saw the teardrop that splashed down onto the joystick Serena gripped in white-knuckled hands.

* * *

"Hey, Dare, what's with you and that Tuxedo Mask doll? You're always trying to win it." Motoki laughed as he wiped his hands on his apron.

Darien shrugged. "Just cause. I'd rather have him than a Sailor V doll."

"Most guys would rather have the girl doll," Motoki teased, raising an eybrow. "Yet you're trying to get the guy. Is there something you haven't told me, Darien?"

"Actually, Motoki, most guys would rather skip the doll altogether," retorted Darien, the faintest trace of a grin tugging at his lips. "But if I ever turn down that path, you'll be the first to know."

"Speaking of your love life…" Motoki trailed off as he walked behind the counter. Darien followed him, plopping down on a stool. "That was kinda rough, the way you turned down Miyaki-san yesterday. A lot of the kids are talking about it."

"She was sending me love letters and cluttering up my locker. I barely have room in there for all my books anyway. What did you want me to do, Motoki, express my gratitude to her for melting chocolate all over my chem notes?"

* * *

**Flashback:**

_Darien wore a scowl as he tugged open his locker and another envelope adorned with heart-shaped sticker – the third one this week – slid out of it and landed on the grimy floor. He didn't even bother to pick it up, he was already late for school that morning (after he made the mistake of getting in the way of Odango on her usual morning dash), and he had a chem test second class that he needed to cram for during Study Hall first period._

_He reached into his locker – he had left his chem notes on the top of all his folders yesterday so that he could easily access them this morning – and froze. Slowly, he withdrew his hand, which was clutching his chem notes. Both were coated with a glutinous brown liquid that smelled sickly sweet. _

_Chocolate._

_Chocolate had melted on his chem notes._

_Upon seeing the murderous expression on Shields-senpai's face, all students within a five foot radius backed away. Except for one: an extremely foolish, lovesick girl who was standing behind him, thus unable to see his countenance._

_"Shields-senpai?" she asked timidly, lifting a hand to his shoulder. Her face was fire engine red, but she seemed determined to say what she had come to say. "Iknowyouprobablydon'tlikemecausei'mjustasophomoreandyou'reareallypopularjuniorandhandsomeandpopularandstuff,butireallylikeyouandiwaswonderingifyou'dliketogoouttogethersometime." She said all of this in one breath._

_Darien turned to spear her with a dark blue gaze. "Did you put chocolate in my locker?" he said slowly._

_She blushed harder and stammered, "Hai."_

_"Leave. Please." Darien struggled to keep his composure. Why must these girls constantly stalk him and swarm around him like honeybees? Why couldn't they just back off and let him live his life? "I don't have anything to say to you."_

* * *

Motoki sighed and began wiping the counter off with a rag, a sure sign of nervousness. "It's just – she really liked you, Darien. She ran off crying, for God's sake!"

"That's not my fault," Darien defended himself stubbornly. He pushed himself away from the counter and stood up. "I can't help it if I don't reciprocate her feelings."

"You don't reciprocate anyone's feelings!" Motoki had tossed the rag aside, and was leaning forward now. "Remember, last month, when that girl asked you to the spring dance? You didn't even look up from your book to refuse her! Honest to God, Darien, I don't know why these girls still have crushes on you! You're like a block of ice!"

Darien bit back the words he longed to say, and instead settled for, "Nice to know you hold me in such high regard," before striding away.

* * *

"So we're meeting at the temple on Thursday?" Rei tossed her sheet of long black hair over her shoulder

"Yes. Luna wants to discuss the possibility of a new general with us." Ami spoke clipped, precisely, as always.

Rei scowled at the blonde tracing circles on the tabletop beside her. "You know what that means, Serena. No detention tomorrow! Can you handle that for just one day, baka – "

"Rei!" Lita frowned down at the priestess. "Lay off, will ya?"

Serena shook her head at Lita, her bright blue eyes glistening brighter than usual. "No, Lita, she's right… I – I've gotta go." She stumbled to her feet and dashed away, skirt and hair flapping.

THUNK.

"OUCH! Odango!" Darien clutched his head, peeling himself off the floor. "Is there some sort of Darien magnet between your dumplings –" He stopped dead abruptly. "Odango…?"

Serena shook her head, her face twisted as she bit down hard on her lip. Before anyone could stop her, she had picked herself up off the floor and fled.

* * *

**Flashback:**

_"Sailor Moon, that youma almost killed Ami!"_

_"Luna – I'm okay…it's just a scratch…" Mercury tried to defend Sailor Moon, who stood to the side, clutching her tiara._

_"But it could have been much worse! Serena has to stop joking around! This is not a game! She didn't even hear her communicator until the fourth time you two called!"_

_"All's well that ends well," pointed out Sailor Jupiter._

_Mars snorted. "Yeah, until next time."_

_"Exactly." Luna glared at her blonde charge, shaking her head. "I don't even know what to tell you anymore, Serena. Someday your behavior is going to cost us someone's life."_

_Sailor Moon nodded, not meeting Luna's or the Senshi's eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to leave you guys so long – I was just so tired, and I thought the communicator was part of my dream…"_

_"Sorry doesn't cut it, Serena," Luna cut her off. She smiled tightly at Mars, Jupiter, and Mercury. "Get home, you three. Mercury, that arm needs rest."_

_

* * *

_

_"Serena! What's this? Another F! I thought you were studying for this test at Ami's last night? How do you end up with an F when you spend all night studying?"_

_Serena winced. Again, one of her lies had caught up with her. She couldn't exactly tell her mother that she was tracking down a Dark Kingdom youma all night, not studying, which was why she fell asleep during the test, which was why she failed it – not that she would have passed it, anyway._

_Okaa-san sighed and let the paper flutter to the floor. "I just don't know what to do with you anymore, Serena. To tell you the truth, I just feel like giving up on you. Week after week, you promise your father and I that you're going to do better, but you never do."_

* * *

"What happened to Odango?"

Rei threw Darien a flirtatious smile. "Just another of her meatball-brained fits. She'll come back in a few minutes, craving a double fudge swirl sundae, you mark my words."

"I don't know." Ami had lowered her book, a sure sign of the gravity of the situation. "She seemed genuinely upset, Rei."

The raven-hared girl shrugged. "She's always upset. She'll be fine, I'm telling you. So, Darien, I heard that there's this new addition to the park – a maze of rose bushes or something. You wanna go check it out?"

Darien's eyes sharpened from the glazed gaze they had assumed. "Actually, I need to study for an organic chem test." He pivoted abruptly and headed for the door.

Rei pouted as the junior made a quick exit. "I don't get it, Ami. He always has some excuse. Why does he keep blowing me off?"

"I don't know, Rei," answered Ami distractedly, standing up and starting to gather her books. "Listen, I really think we should go look for Serena…"

"Serena will be _fine_!" Rei cried out, pushing Ami back into the booth. "Kami! You just stay there and study. I'll go get us some sodas – coke for me, sprite for you, and cherry for Serena – who will be back within – " She checked her wrist watch. "her usual sulk time of ten minutes, I'm certain."

* * *

_I'm a klutz, and everyone knows it. _Serena threw herself down onto the park bench, her streaming eyes roving across the sparkles of sunlight on the lake. _I shouldn't be Sailor Moon. I'll just let everyone down…like I always do. _

Her fingers traced the circle of her brooch, leaving sweaty smears on the spotless gold. _I shouldn't have this._

Her eyes were distant and unfocused. She stood as still as a statue on the bank of the lake. Several passers-by stopped to watch the unique figure she panted against the sunset: a lone maiden with golden tresses and long skirt whipping in the wind and tears rolling down her face as she stared across the lake.

Serena failed to notice the awed attention she was attracting. Her mind was focused on only one thing: her unworthiness.

_I shouldn't have this…_Her fingers traced the brooch still, but in her pocket, her other hand was clutching Tuxedo Mask's star locket tightly.

* * *

_That night:_

"Nice going, Meatball Brain! Were you going to wait until my whole head was gone, or did you just wanna see what I looked like with a mullet?"

Sailor Mars was in her face, screaming so loudly and with so little abandon that Serena felt little flecks of hot saliva landing on her skin. The other Scouts and Luna were standing off to the side, feeling sorry for Serena, but sorrier for Rei, whose jet-black tresses had been sliced to chin-length by the youma that Serena had hastily dusted only a few seconds ago.

"Rei – I'm really sorry – "

"You're ALWAYS sorry, baka! But you never CHANGE! You're always late, you whine and cry, and put the whole team in danger – I don't know why Luna even chose you as the Leader! You're a whiny, klutzy, spoiled, stupid, ditzy little _pig_!"

The high-heeled Senshi stomped off, looking strangely off-balance without her waist-length hair. Serena watched her go, biting her lip to keep from crying.

"Aw, it'll be alright, Serena," comforted Lita once Rei had disappeared. "She's just upset – her hair's really important to her, you know. She didn't really mean all that."

Serena cast her tall friend a grateful look, though inside she knew that Rei meant every word she had said from the very depths of her fiery heart. And Rei was right – she was just a whiny klutzy stupid ditz. She didn't deserve to be Leader. How was she supposed to protect the Moon Princess when she couldn't even keep herself from bashing headfirst into light poles?

"I'm going to go after her," Luna decided, jumping out of Ami's arms. She directed an inscrutable look at Serena. "You'd better start coming up with a _very_ sincere apology."

* * *

"Serena's not here yet," said Ami worriedly, glancing at the clock for the third time on the past ten minutes.

"Good," spat Rei. She viciously stirred her steaming cup of tea. "I'm STILL furious with her…"

"It was an _accident_, Rei!" Lita gritted out. "Just be happy it was your hair and not your neck, okay?"

"Easy for you to say," snapped Rei. "You're not the one walking around in a chop-job."

"Hey." A new voice interrupted them, and the girls – scowling Rei, concerned Ami, and fed-up Lita – looked up to see Darien Shields standing beside their table. His red school blazer and tie were immaculate, as usual, but his dusky hair seemed rather windblown.

"_Darien_!" exclaimed Rei in a squeal. She tossed her head and flipped her hair with wide, puppy eyes. "What do you think of my hair? I was going for the sophisticated college-girl look, but I think the hairdresser cut it a bit too short…"

Darien quirked a dark eyebrow. "I really don't know, Rei. I'm not the sort of person to ask about hairstyles."

"Oh, but your hair always looks so _nice_. Please, just tell me what you think of it?"

Darien shrugged and looked at Ami and Lita. "Have you seen Serena?"

Ami shook her head. "Not since school. She was supposed to meet us here."

Darien raked a hand through his hair. "You don't think that…yesterday, when she…"

Lita caught his drift. "It wasn't you," she assured him. "Serena's just got a lot going on right now, that's all. It wasn't your fault, don't let yourself feel guilty."

Darien seemed slightly taken aback. "Okay…" He stood there for a moment. "Okay," he said again, more firmly. "See you, then."

* * *

"Hmm. I thought I'd find you here."

Serena opened her eyes and squinted up at the dark shape blotting out the sun. Her mind suddenly connected the voice to a face, and she scrambled up, scrubbing her tearstained cheeks. "Dar – Shields!"

"The one and only." Darien folded his legs and sat down beside her, pretending not to notice the wet tracks running down her face. He tilted his head back and let the sunlight beat his pale skin. "You weren't at the arcade."

"No."

He cracked an eyelid open to regard her. "Far be it from me to be nosy, but that's the first time in months you haven't gone to the arcade after school."

A side of Serena's mouth lifted wryly in spite of herself. "Have you been stalking me?"

"Hardly." Darien closed his eyes again. She was glad he did; those dark orbs saw far too much when they were open. "It's not my fault you frequent my favorite haunt."

"You talk like a textbook, you know that?" Serena said, bringing her knees to her chest and watching him.

"So I'm told."

"By who? Who else, I mean."

"Teachers. Friends." A grimaced flitted across his face. "Admirers. They think it's romantic."

Serena giggled. He cracked an eye open again to look at her.

"That's why I left, you know."

Serena stopped giggling, face smoothing. "Left what?"

"The arcade."

Serena's blonde brows furrowed. "I don't understand."

"Rei was in a flirtatious mood. That's why I left the arcade and came to find you. Because Rei was bothering me. Not because I was worried about you."

"Oh." If Serena felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach, it didn't manifest itself on her face. "What's wrong with Rei flirting with you?"

Darien sighed and reclined fully on the grass, an arm over his eyes. "There isn't. I guess. That's what Toki tells me."

"What does your heart tell you?" Serena smiled slightly as she asked the corny cliché.

Darien didn't need to see Serena to be able to sense her amusement. He smiled himself, beneath his arm. "That I'm tired of girls throwing themselves at me."

"So…" Serena stretched out on the ground, her body perpendicular to his.

"So…?"

"So what are you going to do?" Serena watched a cloud drift across the sun.

"That's the question I don't know the answer to." Darien sounded slightly frustrated. "Motoki's starting to make me feel guilty about all the girls I give the cold shoulder to – but that's the only way to make them leave me alone!"

"Well…you could tell them you're gay," Serena offered.

Darien sighed and turned his head to look at her. She saw her own reflection in his dark blue eyes, and felt slightly disconcerted. "I've considered it. But the problem is…a considerable portion of the male population has fixated on me, as well."

Serena's fingers found a blade of grass and began to toy with it. "But at least people like you. It's better to have too many people like you than to have even one person hate you."

"Ah." He observed her for a moment. "Are you offering to explain why you have tear tracks on your face?"

Serena sighed and shifted away from him. Some of the golden curls that had escaped her hair buns brushed across his nose. "It's the usual story. I was a klutz, now Rei's mad at me."

"Does Rei have some sort of lojack on the pair of us?" Darien murmured. "Perhaps we should join forces and hire a hit man, Odango."

"Joining forces sounds good." Serena smiled. 'But I think a hit man might be overkill."

"I'll forgive the pun." Darien idly poked blades of grass into Serena's odangoes. "An assassin, then. They're more subtle."

"How about we just sic Chad on her? We could leave him anonymous love letters and then tell him they're from her."

"Hmm." Darien chewed on this plan for a moment. "It's devious, I'll give you that."

"Not that devious. Chad really likes her. If she'd just give him a chance – "

Darien's lazy smile disappeared suddenly. Serena, with her eyes on the clouds, didn't notice the change in his expression.

"I've gotta go." He stood abruptly and picked up his briefcase.

Serena looked up. "Um – okay," she said timidly, climbing to her feet. "Thanks for, um, talking…"

"Yeah." Darien's reading glasses fell from their perch atop his hair back onto his nose. "It was fun. Bye." He strode off quickly down the path.

Serena thought a moment. Then her eyes widened. She broke into a run, tumbling through the grass after her enemy/conspirator.

"Darien! Wait!" She dashed in front of him, pigtails flapping.

He surveyed her calmly from behind his glasses. No, not calmly, emotionlessly. "Yes?"

"What I said – about giving people chances – please don't be upset with me." She gazed pitifully up at him with her big blue eyes. "I don't want you to be mad at me, too."

Darien raked a hand through his hair. "It's not _you_ I'm mad at, Serena. It's me. I know that I should give these girls a chance – but I don't _want _to…"

"And that's _okay_," insisted Serena. "You're not turning these girls down based on what they look like or talk like. You just don't want to go out with them. Rei ignores Chad because she doesn't think he looks very handsome. She doesn't pay attention to his character at all, and she doesn't reject him very nicely. She's mean and cold to him."

"But…" Darien teetered on the edge. To tell or not to tell? Serena's blue eyes were looking up at him with such trust and respect; he didn't want her to know how he had hurt the feelings of the girls he had rejected. He didn't _want_ her to know the truth – and yet, he did.

"Serena, I'm not very kind when I turn down people either." Taking a deep breath, he plunged into the story of Miyaki-san and the chocolate, and what a monster had had been.

Serena's reaction when he finished was not quite what he had expected. Yes, he had expected her to watch him silently with attentive blue eyes as he told the story…but he _hadn't_ expected her to wrap her arms around him when he finished and give him a big hug.

"Odango…?" he said confusedly, staring down in shock at her golden buns.

"You're not a monster, Darien." Her voice was muffled – muffled by his red school blazer. "What you told Miyaki-san was not very nice at all. And yes, you should have been nicer about it. But the fact that now you regret it and you feel bad about it shows that you're not a monster. You're not heartless, and you're not a block of ice."

"Then what am I?" Darien murmured, more to himself than to Serena.

But Serena heard him. She pulled away to look up at him. "You're Darien," she said with a bright smile. "You're Darien the straight-A student who has a heart and who is very good at coming up with witty insults."

"Gee, thanks for making me feel accomplished." Darien smiled bittersweetly. "I want to be more, Serena. I don't just want to be someone. I want to be someone _to_ someone."

"Well…" Serena let go of him. "Then you're just going to have to start getting to know some of those girls, aren't you?"

* * *

A change came over the two regulars of Motoki's fruit parlor after that. It wasn't really a conscious metamorphosis on either of their parts, nor was it an entirely gradual process. The first sign of it was seen in the arcade the day following their conversation in the park. Darien showed up at the arcade at his usual time, but instead of ordering some highly-caffeinated stimulant and settling in with a thick textbook or trigonometry worksheet, he ordered a mint-chocolate-chip milkshake and left his briefcase and all its contents untouched at his feet.

The second anomaly occurred when Serena entered the arcade an hour early – and wonder of wonders, she was alone. Without any of her friends, not even Ami, walking beside her.

And, shocking Motoki further, Serena headed straight for the seat beside Darien's and plopped down in it, chattering non-stop to the dark-haired upperclassman. And Darien _spoke back to her_. Without either of them bursting into tears, yelling, or stalking out of the arcade!

"Are you two feeling alright?" asked Motoki when he brought Serena's order to her – she had asked for a large Pepsi, bizarrely. He felt each of their foreheads in turn. "You don't_ feel_ like you have fevers… Do you have a bet going on, or something? Like Serena has to be Darien for a day and Darien has to be Serena? Because, Serena-chan, this is the first time ever in history that you've ordered a soda instead of some dairy product – "

"I need the caffeine," explained Serena solemnly. "I'm going to be up late cramming for my Earth Space test."

"Studying, huh?" Darien regarded her curiously, sipping from his shake through a straw. "Did your parents threaten to ground you?"

"No…" Serena shifted on her stool. "They've kind of given up on me, actually. But…I want them to be proud of me for something for once. So I've decided that I'm going to ace the Earth Space unit test tomorrow!"

"Good luck on that," said Darien. He hesitated a moment, and that was when Motoki's eye sharpened. Something had definitely happened yesterday that he didn't know about. "Hey – would you like some help? Help studying, that is."

"Um. Wow," said Serena, clearly as surprised as Motoki by this offer. "Thanks for the offer, Darien, but what I really need to do is read all the chapters. Which is gonna take _forever_…. But I've gotta do that by myself. Thanks, though. Bye!" She waved at them and skipped towards the door.

Motoki and Darien turned to watch her go, and therefore saw when a familiar group of girls entered the arcade just as Serena reached the door. The blue-haired and brown-haired ones had smiles and greetings for her, but the black-haired priestess had only a scowl.

"Where are you skipping off to, pasta-brain? We have business to discuss."

Serena stopped, confusion flitting across her features, as well as a small degree of fear and guilt. "What d'you mean? Our meeting's not until tomorrow night."

"We changed it. I found out that I have talent show rehearsal tomorrow. So come on." Rei jerked her head toward their usual booth, to which Ami and Lita were already headed.

Serena's face creased. "Rei, I have to go study for my science test tomorrow – "

"Study? You?" Rei let out a harsh laugh. "Stop playing around, Serena!"

"No, really – Rei – "

Rei wasn't laughing anymore. Instead, she wore annoyance on her face like a thundercloud. "Stop messing aroudn, Serena. You never study for _anything_. Besides, even if you were going to study, it's not like your empty skull would absorb any of it."

Serena stood frozen. Her mouth worked soundlessly for a moment. Then her head drooped and she followed Rei back to the usual booth.

* * *

"Hey." Darien cornered Serena after the girls finally dispersed for the night – at nine-thirty. "What happened? I thought you were going to study for your science test?"

Serena looked drawn. Darien couldn't blame her. He had paid a bit of attention the the girls' conversation – okay, he had been eavesdropping shamelessly – and the majority of it seemed to have consisted of scolding Serena, making fun of her, and stroking Rei's ego by assuring her that her hair looked _tres chic_.

"Rei needed to talk to me," she mumbled.

"Is that her excuse or yours?"

Serena looked up. Her eyes were shadowed; all her exuberance from earlier that afternoon seemed to have fizzled away. "It's bad enough already without you making it worse, okay!" she snapped.

Darien lips curved. Finally, some spirit out of her. Why did she give in to Rei so easily?

"Why are you smiling?" Serena demanded. Then she shook her head. "You know what, forget it. I'm going home. Who cares about that stupid test anyways – "

"Your parents do. And you did, a few hours ago."

"That was before," mumbled Serena. "I must have been high – I actually thought I could pass a test – "

"Where's your book?" Darien interrupted.

Serena fell silent and looked up at him. "Why?"

"Just take it out. And sit." He slid into the booth his backpack and books were in and jerked his head at the opposite side.

Serena remained standing, staring down at him. "Look, Darien, there is no way that I am going to pass that test. I'll never be able to read all those chapters now, even if I stayed up all night." And that was assuming that there wasn't a youma attack that night.

"Look, Odango Atama." Darien rubbed his forehead. "Do you want me to help you or not?"

Her hopeless expression was answer enough. His hand reached out and closed around the strap of her school bag, tugging it and causing her to stumble over into the booth. "Take it out. What unit is the test on?'

"Um…five. I think. It's about – "

"Volcanoes," interrupted Darien again, eyes distant. "The different types of rock, lava, and intrusive rock formations, right?"

Serena gaped at him. "Wha – how do you know all that?"

"Photographic memory," replied Darien calmly, as though it were something everyone had. Serena watched him neatly remove several sheets of notebook paper from his binder. "I took Earth Space two years ago, and I'm pleased to say that I still remember the tests and chapters quite clearly – Ryourou-sensei _does _still teach it?"

"But that's _cheating –_ "

"Not really. You'll be well-acquainted with the material."

"Do you want to pass the test or not?"

Serena gulped weakly. "Pass, I guess."

"Where's your textbook?"

Serena heaved it up on the table. Darien flipped it open and riffled quickly though the pages to Chapter 19.

For the next hour and a half, he drew little pictures and taught Serena mnemonic devices to remember the various types of lava, intrusive rock formations, and lava contents. At the end of their impromptu study-session, he shoved the sheaf of notebook paper – on which he'd jotted down the mnemonic devices in his neat, spiky handwriting – at her.

"Look them over again before the test," he ordered her, then gathered up his things and exited the café.

Serena blinked after him. She didn't even notice when Motoki slid into Darien's vacated seat.

"He waited practically all night, you know."

Serena nearly jumped out of her skin. "Wha – Toki!"

"He's never stayed here that long before. _And_ he has a trig test tomorrow," commented Motoki, clicking the pen he took orders with. "It's a pretty big deal for him to stay out until ten-thirty on the night before a big test like that. He usually goes straight home to study."

"TEN-THIRTY?" Serena scrambled out of the booth. "Oh my god, I've gotta get home! My mom's gonna kill me!"

* * *

A/N: Probably two or three chapters left. I have the whole story planned out, just have to write it. I'm hoping to make a different sort of Darien here…I want to really focus on character instead of story for once…tell me what you think and if it's worth continuing. PLEASE! 


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** STC Chapter 21 is still not coming along very well. I'm quite angry with it. So here's another chapter of this story.

Someone asked how old they are in this story. As usual in my stories, they're close in age: Serena's fifteen and Darien's sixteen.

**Disclaimer:** Once upon a time, there was a little girl who did not own Sailor Moon. Her name was EightofSwords. The End.

* * *

Don't Want You To See

* * *

Motoki's heart nearly stopped for the second time in two days when Serena raced into the arcade the next afternoon. It wasn't because he thought she was heart-stoppingly beautiful or anything – although of course he thought Serena was a very pretty girl, with her bright blue eyes and impossibly long golden hair to match her impossibly long legs and adorable figure – ahem. Anyways, that wasn't the reason Motoki nearly had a heart attack.

The real reason was that Serena had arrived an hour earlier than usual. Without friends. And she had launched herself into Darien with a muffled squeal of joy.

Darien nonchalantly lowered his spectacles, peering down over the rims at the sophomore whose arms had knotted themselves around his midsection.

"Am I correct in assuming that you did well on your Earth Space test, Odango?"

"More than well!" Serena disentangled her arms and dove into the other side of the booth, across from Darien and his mountain of schoolbooks and binders. She dug into her backpack and yanked out a packet of paper. "Look!"

"Hmm – my God!" Darien shoved his glasses up on his nose, snatching the test from her to hold it close to his face. "This is a one hundred!"

"Yup!" said Serena proudly. "I looked over all those notes again before I went to sleep, and while I was running to school this morning, and at lunch before class started – "

"I can't believe it." Darien took off his glasses and scrubbed them with his red blazer, then put them back on and examined the test again. "I had no idea my teaching methods were so effective…"

Serena's brows knit together. "Hello, are you forgetting someone?" She shook a hand in front of his face. "I took the test, remember? And studied? Don't I deserve a little credit?"

"Hush, Odango." Darien waved her away with a negligent hand. "I'm trying to savor this victory of mine."

"Victory of _yours_?" Angry pink flooded Serena's cheeks. "You are SO self-centered!"

"Of course. I'm a Leo. The universe revolves around me."

"You mean you actually know your horoscope sign?" Serena stared at him curiously, the pink draining from her features. "You don't seem like that kind of guy…"

"I find the daily predictions amusing." Darien smirked at her from behind the rim of his coffee mug. "I dare say that you, on the other hand, base your whole life on them, don't you, Odango?"

Serena bristled. "I can't help it if they're accurate!"

He smirked at her again before letting his eyes rove around the café, which was full of the usual hyper Friday afternoon crowd. "Where are your – ah – _friends_?"

Serena frowned at the delicate emphasis he placed on the word, but didn't say anything. Instead, she took a napkin from the dispenser at the end of the table and began to fold it absently.

"Rei has talent show rehearsal today. Ami decided she wanted to take advantage of some study time, and Lita's at a karate match." She grinned suddenly. "She wanted me to go with her, but it's Ken's match, so I wanted to give them some _alone_ time…"

Darien rolled his eyes. "And you told me that because…?"

"I don't know. Just cause."

He watched her fingers neatly creasing the white paper. "So the dumpling's left all alone. What are you making?"

"Hmm?" Serena looked up, then back down at the napkin. "Oh, this. A swan, I guess."

"You wouldn't have struck me as someone who knows origami, Odango."

Serena shrugged. "I didn't use to be. Ami taught it to me. She says it's a good relaxation technique."

"And what," murmured Darien, eyes seemingly transfixed by the deft, sure movements of her fingers, "so preys on your mind that you find yourself needing to use relaxation techniques?"

Serena looked up again, blue eyes darkening. She closed them quickly and smiled brightly. "Nothing! I just like making the pretty shapes."

Darien leaned back in his seat, spinning his mechanical pencil in his fingers as he watched the unexpectedly enigmatic blonde across from him. After a moment, he spoke.

"Odango, do you need help in any of your other classes?"

Serena creased part of the napkin to make a wing. "I'm…passing them…"

"With what? C's?"

The slender white fingers stilled. "Please don't make fun of me, Darien."

Silence reigned for a long moment. Then Darien twirled his pencil again, unlocking the flow of words.

"I spoke with the principal today. He agreed to count it as community service if I tutor you every day after school."

Her fingers made no motion to continue the swan's construction.

"Is that what I am now? Community service?"

He clicked his pencil. "It…benefits both of us."

Serena let out a long breath. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess it does. Okay. Thanks."

Darien opened his mouth, about to say something, then changed his mind and closed it.

Serena finished the paper swan. It looked strangely lopsided, but Darien supposed that that was just a side-effect of being made by the Odango.

Serena glanced at him. "Do you want to start today?"

Darien shrugged, apparently preoccupied by something he had discovered in his history textbook. "Your choice."

"It's fine with me. But I'm going to go get some sugar first, if that's okay."

"Be my guest," he replied, not looking up from his book.

Darien watched from the corner of his eye as Serena slipped through the maze of crowded tables to the counter. Motoki drifted over to her, and soon the blank expression Serena wore melted into laughter. It was only when Darien was sure they were too deeply engrossed in their joking conversation to notice anything else that he allowed his shoulders to slump and an angry hiss of breath to escape his lips. He kneaded his forehead with his knuckles. "_Idiot_."

Serena returned a few minutes later with her chocolate milkshake only to find Darien still bent over his book, looking to all the world as though he'd never stopped reading.

She made a small noise and slid into the booth.

He looked up. "Oh. You're back." He lowered his reading glasses. "Which subject shall we start with?"

"That depends." Serena glared at her milkshake. "Am I supposed to base my answer on which subject I like best, or which subject I'm doing worst in?"

"The latter."

Serena gave him a funny look, but dragged out a fat gray textbook. Darien recognized it, and a small grin flitted across his face as he took it from Serena.

"I should have known," he said, eyes twinkling. "Geometry is your Waterloo, huh?"

"Waterloo?" Serena sipped some of her milkshake. "Sounds like a British word for bathroom."

Darien rolled his eyes. "Only you, Odango." He ignored her mouth opening in indignation and flipped open the textbook. "Which chapter are you on?"

"Um…seventeen?" Serena placed a hand over her mouth as a yawn stretched her mouth. "I'm not really sure. I'm never awake in that class..."

Darien eyed her reprovingly. "I never pictured you as being that lazy, Odango."

"You don't?" Serena wore confusion on her face.

"No. Struggling with concepts, maybe, or getting distracted or discouraged, but I thought you cared about your grades more than that."

"It's not that…I _do_ care…" Serena bent her straw back and forth. He saw her biting her lip. "I just…it's my first period class, and I'm always so sleepy…"

"Why?"

Serena wouldn't meet his gaze. "Stuff."

It was because she looked away from him that he knew "stuff" didn't translate to something frivolous like staying up to play video games or watch television. Perhaps something was going on at home…

"I see." He stopped flipping through the pages. "Is it…can I…"

Serena gave him a small smile. "Nothing you can help with. But thank you." She thought for a moment. "You really don't think I'm lazy – "

"I didn't before – " He saw her face fall and quickly amended, "No."

Her eyes began to sparkle, and he said hastily, "How about this? We'll start with whatever you don't understand." He shoved the geometry textbook at her. "Find the chapter where you started getting lost."

A moment later, Serena pushed the book back across the glossy tabletop to him. He looked down.

The book was opened to Chapter Four.

* * *

It wasn't as bad as it could have been. Darien had expected time to crawl by as slowly as a tortoise, between the agonizing slowness he expected from Serena and the awkward conversation lulls. But once he actually went though the lessons, step-by-step, Serena absorbed them like a sponge. The only explanation he could concoct for Serena's grades was that she slept through class, then went home and had no idea how to do the homework and consequently, failed the tests. Nor was she as boring as some studymates he'd been saddled with before. She frequently made strange noises as she worked out problems he wrote down for her, and hummed little songs beneath her breath. It was rather amusing to watch her chew erasers and see the bizarre pictures and acronyms she came up with to help her remember formulas and postulates.

When they completed Chapter Twelve, night had fallen over the streets outside, and they agreed to stop. The hour hand on Darien's watch had nearly reached eight by that time, and the arcade was even more crowded than it had been five hours ago.

Serena stretched, yawning, and cast a yearning look at the Sailor V game, around which a knot of enthusiastic middle-schoolers had gathered.

"Sorry, Odango," said Darien, smirking as he followed the direction of her eyes. "No youma-dusting for you tonight."

Serena's blue eyes snapped back to him, her face suddenly pale. Then she relaxed and laughed, popping another French fry in her mouth – they had ordered dinner somewhere between Chapters Eight and Ten.

"Have you ever even played a video game?"

"Of course I have," replied Darien, with slight indignation. "Who did you think the initials D.G.S. belonged to?"

"D.G.S.?" Serena swirled a fry in the pool of ketchup on her plate. "You're talking about the high scorer on Mortal Kombat, and Mega-Man and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and a bunch of other guy games – " She caught the broad smile on his face. "You're pulling my leg!"

"Would I lie to you, Odango?" Darien stole on of her French fries. She lobbed a ketchup packet at him.

"Well, what does the G stand for?"

"Genius, of course." Darien flashed her a smirk.

"I think I like you better like this," decided Serena suddenly.

Darien lifted an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"The way you act after you've had three large Mountain Dews. You're not as grumpy."

"When am I grumpy?"

Serena gave him an incredulous look. "You've got to be kidding. When _aren't_ you grumpy?"

"When I'm happy," answered Darien sensibly. "Besides, I'm a genius, you've got give me some leeway – "

"Well, I guess if you're such a genius, I shouldn't bother asking you how you did on your Trigonometry test today…"

"How did you know about that?" Darien said slowly. He eyed her suspiciously. "Now who's stalking who?"

Serena giggled. "Motoki told me about it last night. I'm sorry I kept you from studying – "

"Ah, that." Darien flapped a hand dismissively, then stopped and stared at his hand for a moment. Perhaps the Mountain Dew had affected him more than he thought. "I could have failed that test and still kept an A in the class." He grinned. "Besides, a genius like me doesn't need to study."

"I think that 100 of mine has gone to your head," commented Serena wryly.

Darien's eyes sharpened suddenly, his gaze focused on the arcade doors behind Serena. There was Lita, holding the door for Ami, who thanked her and laughed at something Lita said in return, and Rei, who was adjusting her earrings and smoothing her cropped hair.

"Looks like your friends have decided to make an appearance, Odango."

Serena twisted around in her seat and squeaked. Next thing Darien knew, she had dove under the table before he could even blink.

Darien jumped despite himself as Serena's head collided with his shin. He bent down to glare under the table at her. "Odango! What mental disorder are you suffering from?"

"I can't let them see me!" Serena hissed back, eyes wide and glowing slightly in the darkness beneath the table. "Do you know what Rei would do to me if she found me sitting alone in a booth with you?"

"Claw your eyes out?"

"With a fork!" Serena whispered.

"So what do _I_ do?" Darien looked up and saw that Rei had seen him and was leading the other two girls towards their booth. "They're heading right over here!"

"Put your legs right here!" Serena positioned his shins so that they formed a sort of fortress wall for her to hide behind. He stiffened. "Play it cool. Be Dentyne Ice Darien."

"I don't want Rei getting close enough to smell my breath!" Darien snapped, a slight bit of panic tingeing his voice.

Serena was unable to reply because at that moment, her friends reached Darien's table.

"Darien," began Ami in a concerned voice. "Have you seen Serena? We thought that she would be here…"

"The Odango Atama?" Darien gritted his teeth as Serena punched his leg angrily at his use of the nickname. He imbued his next words with particular sarcasm in retaliation. "She graced us with her presence this afternoon, yes. Why?"

"We were just…looking for her." Ami pushed a bit of her blue hair back from her face, frowning slightly. "If you see her, could you tell her we're meeting after school at the temple on Monday?"

"I'll relay the message if I encounter her." Darien nodded and opened his history book, expecting them to leave.

But no such luck. Rei leaned against the edge of the table, twirling her hair around her finger. "So whatcha doing, Darien?"

"Enjoying a peaceful night of solitude," answered Darien coolly, letting his reading glasses fall from the top of his head onto their usual perch atop his nose.

"But it's a _Friday_," stressed Rei. "Do something fun, it's the start of a weekend! Did you eat yet?"

Darien stared pointedly at the two empty plates and multiple empty glasses sitting on the table.

"Oh." Rei frowned. "Hey, were you on a date or something?"

Darien felt Serena tremble against his leg. "Motoki came over on his break. We ate. Hey, Lita." He said suddenly, changing the subject deftly. "How did your friend do in that karate competition?"

"He placed third," Lita said proudly, beaming, then raised an eyebrow. "Hey, how'd you know about that?"

"Serena mentioned it when she dropped in this afternoon." Darien shrugged nonchalantly. He felt Serena punching him repeatedly in the leg and struggled to resist the urge to exact revenge by kicking _her_ shin.

"Wait!" said Ami suddenly. "Is that Serena's?"

Darien's eyes followed her pointing finger to a paper half-buried beneath all of Serena's geometry stuff.

"Uh – yes!" He forced himself to sound surprised. "She must have forgotten it here."

"But that's a – this is a perfect score!" cried Ami, snatching up the paper and staring at it in pure wonder and delight. Lita peered over her shoulder at the test paper and let out a whoop. "Go, Serena!"

"A hundred? Meatball Brain? Lemme see that!" Rei grabbed the test from Ami. "No way. There's no way she got this grade on her own! She must have cheated! Ami, do you sit near her in class?"

"Rei, as you well know, I am enrolled in a higher-level science, not Earth Space," began Ami heatedly, but Rei cut her off.

"Melvin, then! She must have copied off Melvin!"

"Aw, shove it, Rei." Lita rolled her eyes. "Serena studied her butt off for this test. Remember at lunch yesterday, Ami? She stayed inside to look over all those notes of hers instead of sitting outside with us?"

"Yes, I remember." Ami nodded and hugged the test paper to her chest. "Oh, Serena's finally getting serious about studying! I'm so proud of her! Quick, you guys, let's go ask Motoki if he knows where she is – "

Rei watched Ami dance off to the counter with Lita marching after her. "They're almost as dense as Serena," she said disgustedly.

Darien raised an eyebrow. "I doubt Serena's as moronic as you would have everyone believe she is."

Rei snorted. "You're right. She's even dumber."

Darien felt Serena shake. A sad sound escaped her, and he shuffled his foot across the floor to keep Rei from hearing it.

"You and me are the only people who see through her," continued Rei, scowling slightly. "Everyone else excuses her stupidity and laziness because she's so happy and friendly all the time, but she's really just as selfish as the rest of us."

"My psychology teacher would say that you seem to be afflicted with a severe case of jealousy, Rei," Darien said bluntly.

The priestess's pale face flamed. "Why would I jealous of pasta-brain? She's got nothing to be jealous _of_. And why are you defending her?"

"Leave."

Rei flushed a deeper red. "Look, fine, I'm sorry, okay? Serena's not an idiot. She's the perfect doll everyone thinks she is. Now come on, let's play some air hockey or something – "

"I asked you to leave, Rei. Is there something you don't understand about that request?" Darien said icily.

Rei let out a strangled sound and turned around. She stalked off into the crowd.

Darien didn't watch her long enough to see her disappear. He bent down to look at Serena. He opened his mouth, then realized he didn't know what to say.

That was okay. Serena broke the silence for him.

"I wish you hadn't been so mean to her," she whispered, knees drawn up to her chin.

"You wish _I_ hadn't been so mean to _her_," repeated Darien blankly. "You wish _I_ hadn't been mean to _her_…" He blew out his breath. "You're _insane_."

"She really likes you. And you just crushed her heart – "

"Exactly. Like an ant beneath my foot."

Serena stared up at him. "How can you say that?"

"Odango, you need counseling." Darien held out a hand to help her out from under the table.

"Is Rei still here?"

"I don't know. I don't care. Come on." He hauled her up and began separating their stuff into separate piles. "Yours, mine, mine, yours, mine, yours, yours, mine…"

Serena wordlessly took the things he pushed towards her and dumped them in her bag.

"Are we still on for Monday?" he asked her when their table was clean.

She nodded, fiddling with an errant curl of golden hair.

"Are you going to be at the temple?" he asked. "Even after all that?"

"Yes." Her voice was quiet. "I have to."

Darien shook his head. "Whatever." He raked a hand through his hair. "I'll probably see you tomorrow, then. Here, I mean."

"Yeah." Serena nodded, turning to go, then stopped and glanced up at him with a small smile. "Thanks, Darien."

He looked at her gruffly for a long moment, then finally relented, a corner of his lips curving up. "Bye, Odango."

* * *

A/N: Aw, I guess it was okay. I wanted to post another chapter of this one, since 1.) I want to get it over with quick, and 2.) I feel guilty that STC's new chapter won't be up this week. Thanks for all your reviews, I was positively SHOCKED by the response to only one chapter…you're so sweet (sniffle). Tell me what you think of Darien, Rei, and tell me if there's anything you want to see. I MIGHT accommodate (wink). 


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: A slightly awkward chapter. Please forgive me. Thank you SO MUCH for all your reviews.

**Disclaimer**: The day I own Sailor Moon is the day someone knocks Daniel Radcliffe out of his #1 spot on my List of Hot Guys – NEVER!

* * *

I Don't Want You To See

* * *

Saturday morning dawned bright and clear as a silver bell. Noontime found Darien Shields sitting in a stool at Motoki's counter.

"What was up with the girls yesterday?" asked Motoki, propping his elbows on the polished countertop in front of Darien. "They asked me if I'd seen Serena – "

Darien's body seemed to tense. "What did you tell them?"

"Just that I'd seen her with you earlier." Motoki handed him a frosty glass of soda.

"Did you specify _when_ when you said earlier, or was that the exact term you used?"

"Whoah, whoah, whoah." Motoki blinked suspiciously. "Down, boy. I said _earlier_. Why are you so worked-up?"

"You'd be worked up too, if a witch like Rei was after you." Darien tapped his finger on the countertop. "I had no idea she could be so malicious."

Motoki looked alarmed. "Why? What happened?"

"Nothing notably significant. She was just criticizing Serena again… I had always assumed it was just the normal teasing – like I do, you know? But Rei seems to genuinely dislike Serena."

"Then why does she hang out with her?"

"_That_ is the question I've been pondering all morning," Darien answered pensively, rubbing his jaw with the heel of his hand. "I also want to know why the Odango lets Rei walk all over her."

"Why don't you ask her?" Motoki nodded towards the doors. "Here she comes now."

Darien swiveled around in his stool to watch the blonde underclassman pick her way through the arcade to the counter. He frowned, trying to read her mood, but her tripping skip and bright smile were as cheerful as ever.

"Good morning!" she sang out, sliding into a stool beside Darien. "Motoki, may I have a chocolate-banana milkshake, please?"

"Of course, Serena-chan." Motoki beamed at her and turned to fill up a shake glass.

"You're early for a Saturday, Odango," commented Darien. "Awake before two? What's the occasion?"

"Ha ha, Darien." Serena leaned forward and snagged a straw from Motoki's apron pocket, then tapped Darien's nose with it. "That joke eventually gets old, you know."

"Yet it never fails to amuse me." Darien batted aside her straw with his own, smirking. "Are you doing anything with the girls today?"

"Me and Lita might go shopping." Serena accepted her milkshake from Motoki with a grin of thanks. "Why? You planning on stalking me?"

"Speaking of jokes that get old…" muttered Darien.

"Hey, Serena, if you do see Lita, could you give her this from me?" Motoki fished a flyer out of his pocket. "It's for a karate competition next week – I thought she or Ken might be interested in it."

Serena took the flyer gleefully. "Cool! Thanks, Motoki, I know Lita's been itching for a chance to kick some butt without getting in trouble. I'll give it to her." She pocketed the light green slip of paper.

"Giving that to you reminds me…" Motoki's brows scrunched together as he began rooting around in his pocket again. "Now, Darien, I know you're not gonna wanna read this, buddy, but just give her a chance – "

Darien's face darkened. "Another one?"

"Well – yeah." Motoki withdrew his hand from his pocket, holding a small white envelope dotted with heart stickers. "Miho Hiyoko – you know, the cheerleader who dyed her hair blonde a couple weeks ago? – she brought it in really early this morning and asked me to give it to you."

"Why did she dye her hair blonde?" piped up Serena, looking concerned by the expression on Darien's face.

"Uh – well – " Motoki cast an uncertain look at Darien, who stared back at him stonily, then stood and strode stiffly to the garbage can. "I, uh, have no idea…"

"Wait!" cried Serena suddenly. "Darien, what are you doing?"

Darien glanced back at her. "Throwing this away."

"You're – what?" Serena's blue eyes held disappointment. "You're…not even going to open it?"

"No."

"But – why not?"

"Because," answered Darien impatiently, as though this was a reasonable answer.

"She probably spent hours trying to figure out what to write in that!" said Serena, gesturing at the heart-spattered envelope. "You can't just throw away her hard work like that! Not without at least reading it!"

"Fine. You want someone to read it? Here." Darien tossed the letter to Serena, who caught it by the tips of her fingers, looking stunned. "Read it!"

Slowly, and with eyes still wide, Serena backed into her stool again. "But – "

"_Read it._"

With trembling fingers, Serena slit the envelope open. She cast one last pleading look at Darien – but quickly looked away when her eyes met his icy blue stare. She began to read.

* * *

_Dear Darien,_

_You get like fifty of these a week (I know you do because I've watched all those sorry little underclassmen slip them into your locker), so you're probably pretty sick of reading them by now, but I promise to make this one worth your time._

_I like you a lot. Maybe even more than like. You're gorgeous, sweet, smart, handsome, and all-around perfect. Sometimes it's all I can do to keep from throwing my arms around you and giving you a big wet one, right in the middle of Trigonometry class! The things I'd like to do to you – well, they can wait until we're married, I guess. ; )_

_Anyways – it would be really cool if you met me after you read this. I was thinking at the park, in front of that maze of rose bushes? And you can, you know, tell me how you feel, and then we can go to the movies and get some chow – and maybe go see the football game tonight! You'd get to see me in my cheerleading outfit… ; )_

_Love,_

_Your Secret Admirer (Miho-ko!)_

* * *

A moment later, Darien saw Serena's pale throat swallow. She looked up from the piece of paper, and Darien noticed that she held it by the very edge. He smiled tightly.

"Are they…um…all like this?" Serena asked tentatively.

He nodded.

"…oh." She carefully laid the paper back down on the countertop, then folded her hands in her lap, looking down at them.

Silence reigned as Motoki pulled the letter towards him and scanned it. He looked up a moment later and announced, "Hey, this one's not that bad! Pretty full of herself, but – "

"You mean they get worse than that?" Serena's expression held incredulity and a tiny bit of disgust.

"Oh, yeah." Motoki pulled a face. "This one's pretty PG. I remember there was this one that was so explicit you wouldn't even hear those words in Health class – "

"I think that will suffice, Motoki," Darien cut in. He turned his eyes on the blonde next to him. "You understand now why I prefer to throw them away, Serena?"

"Well – but – they can't _all_ be like that – " Serena protested in that earnest voice she had.

"Enough of them are that I don't bother with them anymore," answered Darien tightly. "So I'd appreciate it if you stopped making me feel like such a jerk."

"But – well, you at least need to go meet her at the park to tell her you're not going to go to the movies with her! The letter says she's already got tickets, you don't want her to waste them!"

"That's her own concern."

Serena's lips pursed as she stared up at him. "You know, I thought after we talked the other day…I thought you'd decided to…be nicer…"

"It's not like you've been working on your problem either, Odango," Darien shot back defensively. "Remember last night?"

Serena flinched. Darien, watching her stare suddenly at her hands again, abruptly blew out a frustrated exhalation and shoved a hand into his dark hair.

"Fine!"

"Fine what?" said a bewildered Motoki, who had tried and failed to follow the argument that had just transpired.

"Fine, I'll go to the damn park," snapped Darien. "But you're coming with me, Odango, sinceyou're the one who feels so passionately that I'm obligated to do it."

* * *

A voice called Serena's name as they passed the crowded playground. Serena spun, her streamers of blonde hair slapping Darien's neck.

"Yo, Serena!" The voice called again, and they both quickly spotted the familiar mop of shaggy brown hair.

"Hey, Chad!" called Serena happily, waving at the young man pushing the little boy on the swings.

Chad waved back. "You lookin' for Rei – oof!" His distraction had caused him to get smacked in the face by the swinging kid he had been pushing. He plowed backwards into the mulch and immediately sprang to his feet, guffawing loudly to hide the red spreading across his face. "I'm okay, I'm okay!"

Darien hid a smile. Serena looked anxious. "You're sure?"

"Yeah, I'm cool!" Chad stood woozily. "So you're lookin for Rei?"

"Nope, just taking a walk. See ya, Chad!"

"Have fun, dudette." Chad returned to pushing the kid.

Serena threw him another wave and continued on with Darien.

"He really is hopeless," commented Darien as the shrill laughter and shrieks of joy from the playground faded away behind them.

"Not hopeless, just hapless." Serena trailed her fingers across the leaves of the bushes lining the path's edge. "But he doesn't give up. I think that's really cool."

Darien lifted an eyebrow. "Are you sure you don't nurse some secret affection for him?"

Serena laughed. "Oh, no! Me and Chad are way too alike for that! We'd end up beating each other black and blue between both of our klutz attacks. Besides, he likes Rei, and I like someone else."

Darien watched with thinly veiled interest as Serena's blue eyes darkened. "Motoki?"

"No!" Serena exclaimed, laughing again. Her eyes had lightened once more. "Motoki's like my brother! I know too much about him to want to date him."

"So you're saying that you'd prefer to date someone you aren't very well-acquainted with?"

Serena gave him an odd look. "No, I just mean that I know enough about Motoki to know that he and I aren't very compatible as…um…more than friends."

"Ah. Good."

"Why?" Serena looked supicious now.

"Because for a minute it sounded like you only dated guys you don't know very well – which is a bad foundation for a lasting relationship."

"Uh-huh." Serena folded her arms. "And what do you know about relationships, Darien? Mr. Block of Ice who throws away girls' slaved-over love letters and has never had a girlfriend in his life?"

A sardonic smile twisted Darien's lips. "You read that letter, Serena. Those girls don't know me, but they say they love me. What kind of words did Hiyoko use to describe me? Handsome, smart, sweet? The first two describe me, certainly, but they don't prove that she knows me at all. And to say I'm sweet – would you say that I'm sweet, Serena?"

Serena, eyes wide, slowly shook her head.

Darien's smile faded into a grimace. His voice softened. "Exactly. They don't know me, so they can't love me. I'm just glad that you realize that, Odango."

They walked in silence until Serena suddenly said, "I get where you're coming from."

He glanced over at her, slightly startled. He hadn't expected her to reply.

"But," continued Serena, "there's still the fact that the reason they don't know you is because you won't give any of them the chance. And that's never going to change if you don't start talking to some of them, or at least read their letters."

"I don't _want_ to read them. The vast majority of those letters just sound like glorified proposals for the romance novels they sell at the grocery store – you haven't read the worst of them, Serena!"

"I stick to what I said before," said Serena stubbornly. "They can't all be like that. So just start reading them, and if they start to say something you don't like, _then_ you can throw them out. But at least give them a chance."

"Why should I?"

"Why should you?" Serena rubbed her eyes, her mouth trembling slightly. "I don't know, Darien. The only one who can answer that question is you. But I remember what you told me, you said that you don't want to just be someone, you to be someone _to_ someone. News flash, that's NEVERgoing to happen if you keep treating people like their feelings don't exist."

Darien scowled. "Now you're making me sound like Rei."

"Yeah," murmured Serena softly. "I noticed that, too. Oh, look, we're here!"

Darien's head jerked up from where he had been half-glaring, half-squinting down at Serena's face. Sunlight spiraled into his eyes, and he lifted a hand to shield them.

At least a dozen couples milled around the huge, sprawling mass of rose bushes that composed the maze. There was only one person who stood alone, and she was near the maze's entrance, her bleached hair standing out like a sore thumb.

"Go." Serena's small hands pushed his back.

He dug his feet into the ground and twisted his head to glare down at her. "You're coming with me."

"You know what'll look like? Just go!"

"This was _your_ idea!"

"Exactly! I did the work to come up with it, so you do the work to carry it out!" Serena shoved him again; he caught her elbow as he stumbled forward, dragging her with him.

Hiyoko's eyes landed on him before he could duck behind a tree. She let out a squeal that abruptly died on her lips as she spotted the small blonde whose arm Darien had a fierce grip on.

"Nice job, Shields!" grumbled Serena in his ear. "Now she's seen _me_, and this is gonna be a lot nastier!"

"If it's going to be so nasty, why don't we just leave?" Darien hissed back.

"Because she's headed right for us, and her legs are longer than mine!" Serena whispered, suddenly sounding rather frightened.

Darien rolled his eyes. Go figure that the Odango had to lose her nerve right now, just as Hiyoko came to a stop in front of them.

"Hello, Hiyoko-san," Darien said a measured tone.

"Oh, Darien, I told you can call me Miho!" chirped Hiyoko, her eyes rather obviously fastened on Serena. She bounced forward and pinched Serena's cheeks. "Is this your little sister? She's so cuuuuuuuuuute!"

Darien laughed. Serena kicked his shin. Her fear had evaporated in the face of such indignity.

"I am _not_ his little sister!" she exclaimed shrilly, stomping her foot. "I'm a sophomore in high school! For goodness' sake, I'm in your Home Ec class, Hiyoko-san!"

"Oh!" Hiyoko giggled. "I didn't think it made sense that you would be related – after all, you're blonde, and Darien has such nice dark hair…"

"So did you," said Serena, still somewhat stiffly. "Why did you dye your hair, Hiyoko-san? It was such a pretty coffee color."

Hiyoko blinked and glanced to Darien, who was convulsing with repressed laughter, then back at Serena, clearly not knowing whether she should receive this statement as truth or sarcasm.

"Well…I…" she said helplessly.

"I think you should let your roots grow back in," said Serena sagely, nodding her head and pointing at the dark streaks extending from Hiyoko's scalp into her bleached wavy hair. She twisted around suddenly to glare at the shaking Darien. "Stop that, someone's going to think you're having a seizure and call 911."

Serena turned back to Hiyoko. "Sorry about that. I'll leave now. Darien has something he needs to say to you."

With that, she skipped off. Darien's laughter died abruptly, and he stared after her in shock.

"ODANGO!"

The only sign she made that she had heard was a wave she threw him over her quickly receding shoulder.

"Darien…is that…is she…?" Hiyoko's contorted expression suggested that she was torn between whether she should burst into tears or punch someone. "Your girlfriend?"

Darien made a face, then pulled out the letter, which Serena had so kindly stuffed into his pocket before flouncing off. He thrust it at Hiyoko.

"I don't reciprocate your sentiments," he said, then pivoted and broke into a run after Serena. He didn't want to see Hiyoko's face when she realized that she had been rejected. It would make him feel too…cruel. Did that mean that he was making progress?

* * *

"You mean you just ran off and left her there!" shrieked Serena. "Without even a – a – without even an_ explanation_?"

"What was there to explain?" demanded Darien. "I don't like her. End of story."

They had returned to Square One – i.e., the arcade. Motoki rolled his eyes as he stood in front of them drying milkshake glasses.

"But now she's going to think that there's something wrong with her," protested Serena. "Girls have to be told _why_ a guy's breaking up with them, otherwise they think it's their fault – "

"I did not break up with her!" bellowed Darien. "We weren't even _dating_!"

Serena snorted disgustedly and returned to her milkshake. "Boys."

Darien looked appealingly at Motoki. "Are you listening to this?"

"Does it look like I have anything better to do?" Motoki gestured around him. "Of course I'm listening."

"It was a rhetorical question," retorted Darien. "Stop trying to be smart."

"Stop bullying Motoki!" Serena kicked Darien's shin for what had to be the fifth time that day.

"Stop DOING that!" Darien's abused leg shot out to return to favor to Serena, but he aimed without taking Serena's abnormally short limbs into consideration and ended up kicking too low. His foot collided with the counter instead, and he let out a sharp moan before crumpling on the counter. Serena smirked.

"Sometimes being short comes in handy," she confided smugly to Motoki, who grinned and picked up a new glass.

* * *

A/N: Short, but somewhat necessary to the storyline. As usual, I lied when I said how long the story was going to be – expect at least three more chapters, I think. Serena and Darien's relationship is oscillating rather violently – I'm hoping that this chapter at least planted the seeds of stability. We'll probably see some Moon/Mask interaction next chapter.

I know that the letter wasn't really as forward as the characters made it out to be – I was kind of banking on the fact that the Japanese are usually very controlled when it comes to their emotions, and disapprove of over-affectionate overtures such as asking someone to call you "Miho-ko" when they don't even know you very well.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** STC 23's coming along slowly and strangely. I hope to have the new chapter up this weekend.

THIS chapter is dedicated to chocolate cookie dough ice cream, without which I never would have written this chapter. I loooooooove yooooouuuu, coooooookie dooough!

**Disclaimer:**

I'm Popeye the Sailor Man,

I found my henshin wand in an overfull trash can –

Um, this has nothing to do with me not owning Sailor Moon, does it?

* * *

I Don't Want You To See

* * *

Darien spent Sunday relaxing – alone. He left the apartment only early in the morning to fetch the newspaper, then lounged around the living room in his socks and sweat pants, switching between rereading _The Count of Monte Cristo _and reviewing his World History notes as the fancy struck him.

He usually passed his Sundays this way. He had always made it a habit to avoid making any engagements on Sundays because it was his day to re-bury any emotions that might have loosened over the week.

Like the intense self-contempt that had boiled in his veins on Friday afternoon.

The Odango's voice still played mercilessly over and over in his head – _"Is that what I am now? Community service?"_ – reminding him of his woeful inability to be considerate of other people's feelings. No matter how hard he tried – and he had been trying so hard, he'd thought Serena would be pleased by the prospect of a tutor, but obviously she cared less for him than he had thought – he ended up doing something incorrectly. No matter how hard he tried to act like a human being, he would never be one. The golden sparks that shot from his skin when he was injured were proof of that, and so was the icy mask he was unable to take off.

This Sunday, more than ever, he needed the time and solitude to cool down and let frost fog his exterior once more.

But this Sunday, for the first time in his life, he couldn't sit still.

His fingers itched to open the door and walk outside. His eyes flicked from the book in those twitching fingers to the balcony doors, beneath which lay a bustling city full of people. People who lived and breathed and laughed and loved.

He had never before felt such an irrepressible craving to get out. A gnawing yearning to roam the streets and see the people, to wander the park and watch children playing, to lounge in the arcade and spar with Odango Atama – to _interact_. His mind stubbornly kept replayed the feelings of amusement and…_fun_ that had flowed through him yesterday and the day before.

He wanted to feel those things again.

He snorted at himself in digest and rolled up on his hip to a sitting position. This was insane. He would go out – but not to the arcade. Not where _she_ was. He would go to the park, take a walk – hopefully that would clear his mind. Bring him back to his senses.

He tugged on a white t-shirt and walked out the door, only realizing after he had already entered the elevator that he was still wearing his sweat pants. They weren't dirty or torn, so he reluctantly decided not to trek all the way back up to his apartment to change, but he felt acutely self-conscious as he exited the building – as though everyone were staring at him. He had never worn sweat pants in public before. They felt so…_informal_.

It happened before he had walked even two blocks. He had expected it, and yet refused to admit to himself that it would happen, because then he would have been forced to take a different route or admit that he was actually anticipating the collision –

Which he was. He was waiting for it with bated breath and jangling nerves.

She did not disappoint him. She bowled into him; they bounced off each other, and she landed on the ground, gabbling out apologies.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going, all my friends say I should get glasses, I – oh! DARIEN!" Her eyes landed on him, and she scowled. A tendril of uncertainty twisted around one of his ribs and tugged. "Why didn't you say it was you? I just wasted a bunch of perfectly good apologies for no reason!"

"Three _sorry_'s doesn't even put a dent in all the apologies you owe me, Odango Atama." The words flowed automatically from Darien's mouth. He was grateful for this because his mind didn't seem to be connected to the rest of his body at the moment.

"Ooh, you_ meanie_…" Serena made a face, then reached up and grabbed a handful of his shirt to pull herself up.

Darien felt a jolt from this unexpected movement and nearly fell down on top her. He righted himself in time to keep _that_ from happening, but he was too late to stop his nose from brushing Serena's.

His head jerked backwards as if he had been burned. He would have moved farther away, but Serena had not yet relinquished her hold on his shirt, and she did not seem in a hurry to do so. She rubbed her nose with a hand, frowning up at him a little, then giggled.

"That tickled."

The tendrils were wrapping around Darien's ribs by the dozens, tightening his chest. He felt as though he had ingested a jellyfish.

"Where are you going?" His question came out abruptly.

"I don't know," she confessed with a little laugh and shrug of her shoulders. "I was just going to wander around until something caught my eye…I'm thinking I want to go to the park, though. I've heard at least six people talk about the rose maze, so it must be something worth seeing." She tilted her head, looking at him. Her blue eyes shone, but it was with a light that was inscrutable to Darien. "Is that where you're headed?"

Darien quirked an eyebrow to hide the surprise that hit him. "What makes you think that?"

Serena nodded at his attire. "You're wearing sweat pants, I figured you must be jogging or something…"

Darien looked down to glare at his incriminating sweat pants. His eyes, while focused downward, caught something else. "Did you notice that your socks are mismatched, Odango?"

"Are they really?" Serena stuck her foot out in front of her and bent to examine it, then did the same with the other. "No, they're the right ones."

"But one has moons on it and the other one has roses."

"Exactly!" Serena beamed. "I think they match, don't you?"

Darien regarded her suspiciously. "I think you purchased two different pairs of socks and mixed them on purpose. I'm a little lost as to your motive, though."

Serena eyed him searchingly for a moment. He shifted somewhat discomfitedly under her gaze, and was even more unnerved when she leaned towards him.

"It's kind of a secret, but…I'm a Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask fan," whispered Serena, her cheeks reddening slightly.

Darien pulled back to stare at her cluelessly. "So?"

"Oh, come _on_, Darien. Even you aren't that much of a hermit." Serena turned around to face him, walking backwards. Somewhere in the middle of their conversation – Darien wasn't sure precisely when – they had begun to head towards the park. "Haven't you heard of the Sailor Senshi and their GORGEOUS protector, Tuxedo Mask?"

"Of course I have," said Darien, amused by Serena's starry eyes and clasped hands as she spoke of his alter ego. And also by the fact that she was about to walk into a metal pole. Should he alert her to the imminent danger? "That doesn't explain why you mixed your socks up, though. Why not just wear the moon pair one day and the rose pair on a different day?"

"Because I'm not just a Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask fan! I'm a Sailor Moon _and_ Tuxedo Mask fan!"

"The difference being…?" As he spoke, Darien decided it would be too cruel – even for him – to let her bash backwards into the pole. He grabbed her lightly by the wrist and tugged her more directly in front of him. They passed by the pole with Serena none the wiser as to its presence. She was too ensconced in her raving over Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon. Another chuckle escaped him.

"…can't BELIEVE you don't know what I'm talking about! Sailor – hey, you're not even listening to me!"

"You're right. I didn't hear a word you said," confirmed Darien unabashedly.

Serena's cheeks flushed again as she scowled at him, but it was a different sort of blush than the one that had painted her face a moment before. Relief and disappointment washed over Darien simultaneously.

"You don't even _care_," said Serena, sniffing a little, miffed. "Never mind, then."

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself," said Darien bluntly. "Go on with your ranting, chatterbox, I'm listening now."

"You're mean." Serena folded her arms and stuck her nose in the air. "To think I was going to tell you who my crush was – I mean, who I think Sailor Moon should – um – "

"Spit it out," said Darien, but he hadn't fully registered Serena's slip. His eyes had caught a beam of sunlight hitting one of Serena's golden curls and arcing across it like a spark. Like a golden spark…and that reminded him…of…

"Are you okay?" Serena fell back into step with him, peering anxiously up at his face. Hs eyes followed that curl until he realized that she was staring at him, at which point they slid down to the sidewalk. "You look weird, Darien."

"Your own reflection is nothing to brag about, Odango," replied Darien glibly, effectively steering the conversation back into less dangerous waters.

"Then why were you staring at it, huh?"

"Because it's considered insulting to stare at someone."

Serena blinked. And even Darien, painful though it was, had to admit that that retort had gone a little into left field. He cleared his throat. "Wait, let me re-do that one. Say it again."

Serena blinked once more, then a grin flitted across her face. "Then why were you staring at me so intently, punk?"

"I was wondering if a nose ring would do anything to enhance your features. But I decided that it would just make you look even more like a cow."

"Then we have something in common," said Serena sweetly.

Darien opened his mouth to retort when a huge cloud of birds shot suddenly into the air. It was like something straight out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie, and Darien knew instinctively what it meant.

Another one.

He blurted something out at the same time Serena spoke.

"Serena, I forget about something I had to do – "

"You know, my mom wanted me to clean my room, I just remembered – "

They froze and stared at each other. Their expressions were identical: relief.

"Okay, bye, then!" Serena ran off.

Darien watched her golden hair flapping wildly as she disappeared behind a copse of trees and debated whether or not to follow her to make sure she left safely. After a moment, he took a step forward to do just that when his body was frozen. Pins and needles prickled across his skin; sweat broke out in beads on his forehead.

Too late.

Black material swathed his body, and an invisible chain tugged him towards the spot the flock of birds had flown away from just a moment before.

* * *

It was a bad battle.

The youma was no worse than others they had faced – it had whipping vines for arms, and thorns covered its buxom body, plus it emitted a stun gas that had soon knocked out Mercury and Jupiter – but sparks flew between the Senshi today, and they were not the romantic kind.

Tuxedo Mask hung back, crouching on a tree branch, where it was easier for him to see where the youma's vine-arms were headed so that he could quickly slice them with his roses when they came too close to Sailor Moon.

The blonde Senshi, always a klutz, had an especially difficult time with this youma. The vines not only slashed at her, they also tripped her. The several tiaras Sailor Moon had thrown at the youma had been deflected by vines, which were slashed by the weapon but quickly grew back.

Sailor Mars' attacks had fared no better, but she was berating her leader for all she was worth – perhaps because she was so used to Sailor Moon's tiara defeating the youma on its first try, and its sudden fallibility unsettled her.

"How hard is it to aim a Frisbee, Sailor Moon? Hurry up and dust it already!"

"I will! I will!" promised Sailor Moon frantically, twisting panickedly out of the way of another vine-whip and landing hard on her bottom. Her teeth banged down on her lip and split it open. The blonde automatically sucked the blood from her lip as she scrambled back up to her feet, only to fall down once again as Sailor Mars angrily shoved her.

"Get a move on, Moonface!" Sailor Mars' voice was cutting, dripping the same venom as Rei Hino's did when she spoke to Serena.

Tuxedo's fists clenched.

Blood dribbled down Sailor Moon's white chin again. She swiped it from her face with a white glove, leaving a red trail on the snowy material.

Tuxedo Mask gritted his teeth.

"Come ON, I said!" snarled Mars, yanking viciously on one of Moon's pigtails. The girl's head snapped backwards with the force of the yank, and something inside Tuxedo Mask snapped also.

His arm whipped back before he even thought, hurling a jet of roses down between the two Senshi. Several of the roses' thorns sliced Mars' skin, leaving gratifying red slashes.

All movement ceased on the battlefield. Sailor Mars threw down Moon's hair to whip around and search for the roses' thrower. Tuxedo Mask dropped down out of the tree to glare at her, the only coherent thought in his mind that he wanted to scare her.

Badly.

"Ahahaha!" cackled the youma suddenly, retracting her vine-arms. "So Flower Boy has turned against the pretty little girlies!"

"MOON TIARA MAGIC!"

The unexpecting youma disintegrated with a squawk.

Tuxedo Mask tore his eyes away from a murderous-looking Mars to look at Sailor Moon. Shock rocked him when the blonde warrior spared him and Mars only a glance over her shoulder before dashing off into the trees, fleet-footed as a doe.

Her blonde ponytails flapping behind her as she vanished reminded him of Serena. With one last growl and threatening glare at Sailor Mars, Tuxedo Mask leapt away to find the little imp and reassure himself that she was alright.

He felt a slight bit of sympathy for Sailor Moon after the beating and the Mars-abuse she had been dealt, but overpowering his pity for her was fury. Were it not for her damned chains on him, he would have been able to ensure that Serena was safe before he was yanked into battle.

_Damned youma. Damned Mars. _

_Damned Moon._


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** After seeing Cillian Murphy in Red Eye (and piggishly gobbling up all of its fanfiction as quickly as I could, as Nimbi-chan noticed) I think that Darien's portrayal may have been slightly influenced. But I'm probably flattering myself. If you saw Red Eye, tell me what you think.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Sailor Moon. Alas, quoth Emmeline Grangerford (whom I don't own either).

* * *

Don't Want You To See

Part Five

* * *

Monday afternoon found Darien Shields strolling peacefully down the sidewalk.

At least – he _appeared_ to be at peace. But within him seethed an ocean of emotions.

He had stayed at the park only long enough to see that Serena was unharmed. The observation had been made at a distance; while emerging from the trees, he had spotted her bright odangoes flashing in the sun beside a mass of darker locks – Rei's. Where that fishwife had appeared from was a mystery to him that he had no wish to solve.

Had Serena been alone with Rei, then he very well might have gone to join them. But as he had been able to see Mizuno-san's distinctive blue head making her way towards them, he had concluded that Serena would be safe enough from Rei's barbs.

But in all truth, he had left because he had been afraid of what humiliation spending more time with Serena might result in. When he bumped into her yesterday, it was as though his whole body had suddenly been turned into a marionette. All of his actions had been dictated by her; her laugh had jerked one string, her smile another.

Darien Shields did not like the feeling of helplessness.

Unconsciously, his mind connected Serena's control over his feelings to Sailor Moon's control over his body. The association sent nauseating revulsion coursing through his veins.

And yet, here he was, making his way to the temple to pick up Serena for tutoring. And he was looking forward to it. Because he knew that she was going to say something funny, something completely nonsensical. Something that he could tease her about, and she in turn would shoot something back.

That was the Serena he liked best. The one who exploded out of her timid shell and fired off her mouth without thinking. The person she was when her friends were not around.

It seemed rather disturbing. That he liked her best when she was isolated from her friends – it seemed like something a sociopath might say.

But this was a train of thought that he abandoned quickly. It veered into too many dark forests and winding caverns.

Ah. Here it was. Darien halted at the foot of the temple steps. His head tilted back, baring his throat to the cool breeze breathing through the quiet oasis of green grass and brown tree trunks.

Hikawa Shrine. A sanctuary of peace and gently swaying cherry blossom trees –

Until a familiar shriek of rage cut through the air.

Darien winced, lifting a sinewy hand to his ear. That would be Rei.

One of the paper doors slid open, and Ami emerged, her arm linked securely through Serena's.

"Rei," she was saying calmly, "Serena understands not to speak to him anymore. Don't you, Serena?"

Darien lowered his reading glasses to see Serena duck her head in a nod.

"See? She won't," Ami told Rei, who was stomping out of the temple. "Now, Serena really does need these tutoring sessions, Rei – "

Ami's voice stopped as her eyes landed on Darien. He gave her a nod of greeting.

"Oh! You're…here…already…" said Ami faintly. Then she shook herself and straightened, releasing Serena's arm. "Have you been waiting long?"

"Not at all," replied Darien courteously. "Are you ready to go, Odango Atama?"

"Ummm…" Serena's eyes still lingered uncertainly on Rei, whose arms were crossed and foot tapping. "I guess…"

"We'll go, then," said Darien briskly, stepping between Serena and the priestess to break their eye contact. "Goodbye, Mizuno-san."

Ami nodded.

Darien nudged Serena in the small of the back to set her into motion. They descended the stone steps.

"Rei was surprisingly taciturn today," he commented in an attempt to break the silence as they turned the corner. At the simultaneously startled and puzzled look Serena shot up at him, he elaborated. "Not very talkative."

Serena's other hand curled around her briefcase handle so that she held it tightly in front of her. "You got there at the tail end of her performance."

"Mmm," returned Darien noncommittally. "I don't suppose that the 'him' she told you not to speak to was me?"

There was a break in Serena's step, but she hid it well. Darien might not have noticed it if he had not been watching her like a hawk.

"You heard all that?"

"Just the…'tail end' of it."

"…Oh."

They continued walking. Darien eventually lifted an eyebrow. "It wasn't a rhetorical question, you know."

"Huh?" Serena's eyes flicked to him. "What wasn't?"

Darien rolled his eyes. "Who are you not supposed to talk to anymore?"

Serena's eyes fell again. Her schoolbag was hugged to her chest now. Her butter-yellow bangs hid her face.

Like a sudden convulsion, the urge to smooth back those bangs gripped him. His hand twitched spasmodically. With iron restraint, he clamped his arm to his side, stiff and straight as a toy soldier.

"Your hair's in your eyes," he blurted out, his gaze glued to her.

She looked up, shot him a puzzled look. "Huh? Oh. Um…sorry..." She brushed the offending strands back.

"You don't know him," she said suddenly. "That guy. He doesn't go to our school."

"Ah." Darien maintained his noncommittal tone though it was growing increasingly difficult to do so. "Why do they want you to stay away from him?"

Serena rubbed the heel of her palm against her forehead. "Um…" she began, voice soft. "They – Ami and Rei, you know – think he's dangerous."

"And is he?" Darien's eyebrow arched with just the precise degree of nonchalance.

"_I _don't think he is." She shifted and added more quietly, "Not to me."

Something was constricting in Darien's chest, tightening like a tourniquet. Unable to keep the irony from his voice, he said, "But it would take a twisted and demented soul indeed for you to deem them dangerous enough to stay away from, wouldn't it, Odango?"

Serena peeked up at him from beneath her long eyelashes. He thought he could see fear in her expression and felt like goring himself. Trust him to turn into the only soul twisted and demented enough to frighten Odango away.

She turned her face more fully to his, lifting a hand towards his face. As it got closer and closer, all he could think of was this as yet unidentified male that her friends believed to be dangerous…

"Are you alright, Darien? You don't look so hot…"

The tourniquet was choking the oxygen flow to some very important organ. He could feel it spasming and shriveling up in his chest.

It took more effort than he would have liked to keep his voice inflectionless as he rasped out, "Why do your friends think he's dangerous?"

Serena's hand fell, clutching her bag again. "They – well, they didn't – I mean – well, you know how Rei gets sometimes."

Darien nodded in confirmation, eyes slitting. His spectacles slipped down his nose a trifle, alerting him to their presence, and he removed them, tucking them into his pocket. Now he had an unimpeded view of Serena.

"He kind of…was mean to her. But only because she was being kind of mean to me!" added Serena hastily, as though eager to justify her mystery man's actions. "So now they don't trust him because they think he might do the same thing. And they told me I can't talk to him anymore. But I don't think that'll help. I think he needs someone to talk to."

Mixed emotions mingled in Darien's veins. Approval, because anyone who stood up to Rei when she was being a witch to Serena yet again was admirable in his book. Distrust, because even if this person had defended her against Rei, this person was of the male species – but wasn't him.

"Is everyone redeemable to you, Odango?" he asked quietly.

Her hands, tightly curled around her bag, loosened. One detached itself and swung up to slip into Darien's own. He flinched and looked down at them as though his hand was suddenly a separate entity and not attached to him.

"I'm not a judge, Darien," Serena whispered. "None of us are."

* * *

Darien was the one who let go of her hand first. He shouldn't have, and he regretted it later, but he couldn't help it. Every time her fingers twitched in his, every time the pulse in his thumb throbbed, he felt it acutely, as though magnified a thousand times. And it began to squeeze sweat from his pores, oily drops of pure anxiety.

So he withdrew his hand as surreptitiously and unobtrusively as possible. Of course, one does not _not _notice something moving within one's own hand, but Serena thankfully did not comment on it. Her hands merely returned to their grip around her schoolbag handle, though her knuckles were not nearly as white as they had been previously.

And Darien wondered if maybe se hadn't been grateful that he let go. Because e would not put it past Serena to continue holding onto his hand long after she wanted to for the simple reason that she was too polite to do anything else.

They reached the library and had gotten settled into a table. Darien sat, calmly replacing the batteries of his graphing calculator while Serena removed the books they would need from her backpack and set them on the tabletop.

Then suddenly she gasped.

Darien looked up. "What is it?" he said sharply.

"I…forgot my math book," said Serena sheepishly.

L

Ten minutes later, Serena was still apologizing profusely for forgetting the very object most essential for that afternoon's tutoring session.

"I said it's okay, Odango!" said Darien for the fifth time, some exasperation finally coloring his tone. "Now stop saying sorry!"

"Okay," said Serena, still looking tense and guilty. Then, a forced sort of smile made its way to her face. "This from the guy who said I'd never make a dent in all the 'sorry's I owed him?"

Darien looked away as he smiled. "Let's just say there's a limit to how many deposits can be made at one time."

"I'll keep that in mind." Serena wore a small, sneaky grin.

Darien wasn't sure how to deal with the overwhelming relief he felt at such an expression after her earlier timidity and apprehension. So he kept mostly quiet and spoke just enough to keep her metaphorical boulder of chatter rolling.

"So you're sure you left it in your locker?" he inquired once more as they entered the school campus.

Serena's nose wrinkled as she frowned in thought once more. "Pretty sure," she said. "I know I didn't leave it at home, and Ami would have caught me if I left it at the temple." She came to a dead stop suddenly. So abruptly, in fact, that Darien crashed into her, and grabbed at the lockers to stay on his feet. This resulted in Serena being sandwiched tightly between him and the locker-lined wall – which was, needless to say, an unbearably awkward position.

"Er," said Darien, quickly scrambling backwards. His face was suffused a dark maroon color, and he was averting his eyes from Serena, who he was pretty sure was hiding her eyes also. "My apologies – "

"Th-that's okay," stammered Serena. "It – it was an accident."

"Y-yeah." Darien backed another few steps away from Serena. "Uh – so – where did you say your locker was, again?"

"I didn't," said Serena. She moved to stand in front of the locker she had stopped so abruptly at. "But it's right here."

Darien walked over, shuffling his feet so that Serena could hear him and move if she wanted to. She didn't, and he stood beside her as she frowned up at the locker.

"I can never remember the combo," she mumbled distractedly, and pushed down her sleeve. There, on the pale white skin, were numbers scrawled in girlish purple ink: _34-12-37_.

Darien looked away quickly, feeling like a peeping tom. Yes, it was a locker combination, not a naked girl, but both were supposed to be private.

"It's okay," said Serena, apparently noticing his discomfort. "I don't mind. Even if you were the burglar type – which you're not – I don't think you'd be interested in anything in my locker."

And when she opened it, Darien had to agree. He had never seen such a mess. It made a neat freak like himself itch under the skin. How could she leave precious textbooks in such a pigsty of crumpled paper balls and sticky chocolate wrappers?

"Here it is!" exclaimed Serena triumphantly after a moment of rummaging. Her arm emerged from the messiness with the math book in hand.

"Splendid," said Darien. Then he frowned. "Did I just say what I think I said?"

Serena giggled.

* * *

**A/N:** There's more that really should be in this chapter, but I'm too lazy to write it right now. It'll have to wait for next chapter.

Hey, you guys know what's a fun word? "Whuffle." Someday I'm going to have Darien say, "Whuffle." Maybe he'll be under the control of a youma and think that he's a pig, and he'll whuffle.


End file.
